Planet Hot Wheels
Planet Hot Wheels was a massively multiplayer online racing game created by Hot Wheels' developers and Mattel, Hot Wheels' parent company. The service initially launched in 2001, and was heavily advertised by Hot Wheels in its first two years. However, in 2004, after displaying a message on the site for nearly a year that Planet Hot Wheels would be back soon, Mattel permanently removed the game from the website with no warning issued to its players. Many Hot Wheels fans played the game and speculations have been made on why the game was removed, but Mattel has not made any official statements.
| Planet Hot Wheels | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Mattel Hot Wheels |
| Publisher(s) | Mattel |
| Series | Hot Wheels |
| Platform(s) | Windows Mac OS |
| Release | 2001 |
| Genre(s) | Massively Multiplayer Online Racing |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer (with some single-player) |
Many players enjoyed the virtual racing game because of the Hot Wheels World Race story features and because of its use of real world Hot Wheels models and the ability to upgrade their cars with decals, paint jobs, weapons, and other assorted components. To get these parts players could buy specially marked Hot Wheels cars that came with a code that upon entering it into the site, would unlock either items for the player to use or the car itself to use in some of the website's games. Users could race and play mini-games to earn credits, the currency of Planet Hot Wheels, and purchase items and cars with them.
Promotions
Mattel released six "energy" branded cars, based on the six weapon energy types usable in the main game types of Planet Hot Wheels (Electrical, Cyber, Particle, Protonic, Geothermal, and Chemical) that each came with a CD and a level from Stunt Track Driver 2 for each CD collected. When all six were collected, the player would be awarded with the track builder from Stunt Track Driver 2, giving players the option to create their own tracks in a 3D environment. Each car would also come with a code that would unlock the energy branded car to use in some of the games featured on the website.
The service was heavily promoted through advertisements on car blisters and on some select cars themselves. The popular Hot Wheels World Race subseries was integrated into Planet Hot Wheels through adding the cars featured in the movie, and later in 2003, a revamped version of the services main "Head-to-Head" and "Full-on Rally" racing mode was released, featuring tracks inspired by the movie. Other cars featured on the platform gained skins based on the cars featured in the movie.
Features
- A website-based UI that allowed users to create their account and play various games to earn credits, which can then be used to buy and upgrade cars
- A code-entry page allowing users to enter codes they have received from diecast cars, which would grant the user in-game items or the digital car
- Online "Head-to-Head" and "Full-on Rally" racing games, being the main attraction of the website
- A cops and robbers-styled 3D game
- A 3D drag racing minigame
- A 3D hill-climbing minigame, with a Sour Punch advertisement tie-in
- Various other minigames that earned additional credits for the player to use [1]
- An online chat room that allowed users to chat to each other, and also allowed users to chat with the team leaders from Hot Wheels World Race through pre-recorded messages
References
- "Planet Hot Wheels(tm)". web.archive.org. 2002-10-17. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
Trivia
- Another website-based online game called Hot Wheels Racing Circuit, which ran from 2010 to late 2012, used the same engine as Planet Hot Wheels.